HHTel wrote:Lots of people saying they should have got more. The sentence was 4 years cut to 2 years on a guilty plea. In contrast, in the UK they would have got 6 months!

If this were in the UK the British family would have also been charged for their part in this affray.

The attack on the Brits was vicious and made worse because an old lady was involved. I am sure most have noted that she, maybe, should not have slapped the guy, but she still did not deserve the attack she received.

Until it was highlighted in the above video, I had no idea that the son grabbed the guy (who ended up knocking all three of them down) from behind; the father then sucker punched him while he was being held. The father and son then walked away as did the Thai guy, who then came back in for some payback for their dirty deed, The mother placed herself between the attacker and her downed husband as her son was moving in.

I am not saying this was not an over reaction and a brutal assault by the Thai men, but, before any of them ended up on the floor, all three Brits had struck or assaulted some of the Thai men.

I hope the British family are able to recover from this attack and can take some justification in the sentence being handed down.

This whole sorry story is not anything about Thai gangs walking around looking to attack foreigners, it is about pissed up Brits at 2.00am in the morning; on the eve of the biggest holiday of the Thai year; escalating what should be a simple; 'walk on' approach to the situation. They have said they have holidayed in Thailand for years, even been going to the same area and bar for that time. What did they expect, all the Thais to Kow Tow and Wai them with katorts a'plenty.

This post has got quite lengthy; mainly because I am still horrified at the severity of the attack; especially on the old dear, who did not deserve that punch or kick in the head. I was brought up to respect woman and my elders, that placed the elderly woman and protecting her vulnerability a prime instinct, so when I saw the attack video first time I was horrified, I would go full on attack mode if that was my mother. I'm sure that was most peoples reaction to viewing the video first time around and they would always see it that way if they viewed it again. The man she slapped actually walked away; the Thai man who started the final assault was the man the father and son tag teamed for the sucker punch. I just feel that 'maybe' they should feel some responsibility for the final outcome.

I would have been trying to calm my mother and getting her out of the situation, I certainly would not have been sucker punching a local with too much drink inside him and expecting that to be that.

Maybe someone can show and explain to me that the video above is just face saving for the Thais. What I see is what I see, maybe I am gullible. Nothing condones the ferocity of the response, but this seems like a situation that escalated to it's conclusion because of the reaction to events; from both sides.

JD: What an interesting post (and vid). I must admit that when I watched the original video there was so much going on in such a short time span, it was difficult to work out who was doing what to who. On reflection it was 6 and half a dozen (apart from the kicks after the punch from the Thai). I think the sentence for the Thais is fair, and the Brits should feel a little bit thankful that they don't live in Thailand, otherwise they could possibly have faced a few charges as well.

Regardless of all that happened, the little twerp that booted the lady in the face isn't fit for society. The father and son, sure, probably would have got a lot worse if they had tried that in certain areas of England.

I think what JD said there in light of the video is pretty much spot in.

The first video released shortly after the event made it difficult to see where the Thai in the black shirt (punched all 3 brits) came from.

The recently posted video shows why he came after the British father. In that case the Brit and his son got what they deserved.

The British lady slapping the Thai was clearly out of order but it's hard to condone what happened to her.

In a way I'm glad this has come out, not because it scars how the brits behaved but more because it confirms what I've always been told for the last 9 years living here, which is to be careful how you behave around groups of thai lads or face the consequences.

The father and son were good for a slap/punch after their behaviour. Neither of them were good for a punch, boot, and several stamps to the head while semi-conscious... the revenge had been dealt already - the rest was sheer brutality.

The old lady was good for... well... nothing really, she's just a drunk old lady with a high temper. Laugh at it and walk away but - nope!

Let's punch her in the face, drop her, then kick her face like a football when she tries to get up.

I can only imagine that those guys that are now condoning/excusing the Thai lads' action's here are very easily led by a Thai person's opinion.

You're quite right, but JD's post and the unedited CCTV version is quite an eye opener.
It certainly offers a different perspective to those that have only seen edited versions and heard only one version of events.

Even though they didn't deserve to be beaten in such a manner, they certainly didn't do anything collectively during the whole episode to avoid or avert confrontation, quite the opposite.

To be fair, the situation was easily avoidable and could have been defused at several stages of the encounter with minimal effort.

Fortunately the victims made a good recovery, could have been so much worse.

GLCQuantum wrote:I can only imagine that those guys that are now condoning/excusing the Thai lads' action's here are very easily led by a Thai person's opinion.

Haven't seen anyone condoning or excusing the abhorrent behavior by the Thai guys, however there is no doubt that the vid from JD does put another perspective on the events that transpired and that includes not only the irresponsible slap by the old lady, but the vicious and downright savage behaviour of the Thai guys.

There are always 2 sides to every story, but IMHO up to this point I think most of us have really only been getting one. But once again this in no way condones anything that transpired.

“He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.” Sir Winston Churchill

Before marriage, a man yearns for the woman he loves.
After marriage, the 'Y' becomes silent.

Haven't seen anyone condoning or excusing the abhorrent behavior by the Thai guys,

Sorry, I worded my last sentence poorly. When I said 'here' I was more referring to 'here in Thailand' rather than here on the forum. When out and about, I've heard a few expats say things along the lines of, "They deserved it" or "You do that here, you pay the price". This shouldn't have to be the case and, hopefully, the lengthy jail term will be a deterrent to future louts who think a good kicking of semi-conscious people is something they can get away with.

A couple of variables changed this way or that could have seen this incident being a murder case rather than assault such was the brutality of it. Nothing the westerners did could have really caused any significant damage.